Dutch hospitality hygiene code cuts logs, adds new rules

The new hospitality hygiene code from Koninklijke Horeca Nederland (KHN), the Dutch hospitality association, has been on sale since 9 November and becomes the benchmark for every NVWA inspection on 1 April 2027. The 2016 version lapses that day.

Kitchens, bars and hotels in the Netherlands therefore have four and a half months to update work instructions, forms and logs. The code costs € 50 excluding VAT, or € 30 for KHN members. The NVWA, the Dutch food safety authority, approves hygiene codes as food safety plans: a business that follows an approved code meets its HACCP obligation and does not need to write its own plan.

KHN drafted the revision with consultancy Bureau de Wit, after a 2025 survey of operators and with input from food safety firms and the NVWA. According to KHN, hygiene codes must be evaluated every five years and renewed where needed, mainly when legislation changes or new working methods appear.

The paperwork shrinks, but anyone dry-ageing or fermenting will soon have more to explain.

What the hospitality hygiene code drops and adds

The biggest gain is in the paperwork. The weekly temperature log at delivery, storage and display disappears, trade site Pretwerk reports. For storage, staff now only record a deviation, although daily checks remain mandatory. In-house deliveries under 30 minutes no longer need to be logged. KHN describes the shift as fewer ticked boxes and more demonstrable control over food safety.

There is new work in return. Dry-ageing, fermentation, kombucha and hot smoking get a place of their own in the code, as do herbs and vegetables from a kitchen garden, including checks for pests and poisonous weeds. Cold-smoked fish is no longer treated as a standard safe method and needs extra justification through monitoring and sampling, training provider SHO writes.

Daily routines shift too. Pancake and poffertjes batter may stay out of the fridge for two hours instead of one. FEFO replaces FIFO: the product that expires first is used first. Staff must wash their hands explicitly after handling eggs, and teams must discuss food safety regularly and keep a record of it.

Glass rinsing at 60 °C from April 2027

Two technical rules mainly affect equipment. From 1 April 2027 glasses must be rinsed at 60 °C and kitchen appliances must carry a CE marking, according to SHO. Operators unsure about an older glasswasher or range would do better to have it checked now than in March.

For many businesses the switch comes on top of other costs, such as the tourist tax over which 47 industry figures sent an open letter to Amsterdam. The book itself is cheap; the hours needed to rewrite every procedure are not.

KHN hosts a free webinar on the changes on Tuesday 24 November from 10.00 to 11.00. From 1 April 2027 the NVWA will inspect against the new code only.